Sailors sue Japanese company over Fukushima radiation

SAN DIEGO — Eight U.S. sailors who were aboard the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan off the Japanese coast during the Fukushima nuclear disaster last year have sued the company that owns the power plant, claiming they were harmed by radiation exposure.

The
lawsuit
, filed last week in San Diego federal court, accuses Tokyo Electric Power Co., or Tepco, with covering up how much radiation was being released during and after the March 11, 2011, disaster.

The U.S. government unwittingly sent the San Diego-based Ronald Reagan into dangerous levels of radiation as a result, states the lawsuit, filed Dec. 21 by Encinitas attorney Paul C. Garner.

The ship assisted with American humanitarian operations in the region after the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami struck Japan, killing thousands. The Fukushima nuclear power plant failed after the tsunami knocked out power to reactor pumps, causing a meltdown and release of radiation.

In addition to the Reagan, the United States sent the San Diego-based destroyer Preble and the cruiser Chancellorsville to help with relief operations off Honshu, Japan.

The lawsuit seeks $40 million from Tepco for each of the eight sailors, and the same amount for a baby of one of them born seven months after the disaster. That amount includes $10 million in damages and $30 million in punitive damages per person. In addition, the suit seeks $100 million to provide medical care for all nine.

Six of the eight sailors were stationed on the Reagan’s flight deck, and one served as an air decontamination specialist, the lawsuit states. The eighth worked in the air department, which handles aircraft launches, landings and maintenance.

The sailors experienced “great physical pain and mental anguish,” require therapies such as chelation and bone marrow transplants, and have had their lives shortened, the lawsuit states. It accuses Tepco of negligence, fraud, and deceptive business practices, and other legal violations.

Tepco’s Washington, D.C., office did not respond to a request for comment Friday afternoon.

Two days after the disaster, the Navy said it had repositioned the Reagan after detecting low levels of contamination in the air and on 17 aircrew members who flew earthquake relief missions near the Fukushina plant.

“The low-level radioactivity was easily removed from affected personnel by washing with soap and water,” the U.S. Pacific Fleet said in a statement about that incident. “They were subsequently surveyed, and no further contamination was detected.”

The statement said the maximum potential radiation dose personnel were exposed to was “less than the radiation exposure received from about one month of exposure to natural background radiation from sources such as rocks, soil, and the sun.”

Calls to the Navy on Friday afternoon and evening were not returned.

Garner said the U.S. government relied on information from Tepco and the Japanese government that it was safe to enter the area. That makes them liable for the damage.

“They bring it upon themselves, basically, with the misinformation that they give out,” Garner said.